That sentence could get a lot longer because of charges still pending against him in Clark County.

Pyke has been accused giving the wrong ashes to grieving families.

"He said, 'We found your daughter, and the remains that you have are not your daughter's,'" said alleged victim Cantrell Osborne in September 2010.

Pyke was also accused of cashing in pre-burial insurance policies for people who were still alive.

"They just explained to me that it had been cashed in in 2008 and that I was alive. I had to sign an affidavit to that," said alleged victim Lynne Devers in January 2010.

In addition, Pyke has been accused of keeping two decaying bodies in a building next to his Henryville funeral home.

"They were badly decomposed and insects had already started to work on the bodies," said Mike Meyer with the Clark County Health Department.

On Wednesday, Pyke admitted his guilt on some of the 61 charges he's facing in Clark County.

In the agreement, Pyke pleaded guilty to nine counts of insurance fraud, 13 counts of theft and one count of conversion.

He also waived his right to a jury trial, and submits to a bench trial conducted by a judge, for 33 other counts of theft and five counts of violating the cremation statute.

The agreement caps his potential prison sentence, to be set by a judge, at 16 years and requires him to pay back all the money he's found guilty of stealing which could total tens of thousands of dollars.

"So I'm going to try to balance the need for punishment with the need to have him out to start paying back the thousands of dollars these people are owed and, quite frankly, can't afford to be without," said Clark County prosecutor Jeremy Mull.

Prosecutors said the deal averts a potentially lengthy trial while also giving victims a chance to voice their anger in open court.

"Many of the victims will have a chance to show up at a sentencing hearing and to tell the judge what they think," said Mull.

Pyke's attorney said his client wanted the plea deal because he's anxious for closure in this case.

It also leaves room for him to argue his side, to argue his sentence down and to potentially clear his name on some of those charges.

That plea agreement still must be finalized and accepted by a judge.

That same judge will determine Pyke's sentence, with a maximum of 16 years in prison possible, at a hearing scheduled for May 21.